The Origami Forum

Ok, so I was going to make Kamiya's Ancient Dragon (after several test sheets), and now feeling able to do it sufficiently enough, wanted to move onto some really good paper. So my questions (in your opinion) - what is the best paper for making Kamiya's Ancient Dragon, whats the best size of this paper, and what colour looks the best?

Regards,

I cant anwser your first question, which is probably the most important, but size i would say 60cm x 60cm square. I think red is the best for the Dragon but thats just my opinion.

Any thin and strong paper. Go for handmade ones like washi, unryu etc. There are a lot of folded models on flicker. Check those out and see what paper people have used. Size is important too. Dragon means Red ... Right? ( Unless its the dark side dragon or something in which case go Black)

be warned that if you want to do it with a handmade paper, you will probably have to size it first.

the quickest, easiest, dirtiest option if foil from nicolas terry shop, either tissue foil or the 50 cm rolls. if you live stateside, it is apparently possible to buy the "tissue foil" for much cheaper in craft stores.

It can be hard to reverse creases, but tracing paper is fairly cheap, and works very well. There is an a.d. made of tracing paper on my flickr. Only issue is that the only colrs available are white and yellow, at least in the u.s.

As Eamon said, tracing paper works fairly well for complex models, and it is cheap. I would recommend a 20" sheet.

First time, I used 90cm wide siliconized paper. It was OK but not the best type to fold with. Second time, I used 70cm wide tracing paper. It was much better as the creases were much sharper and able to hold its form easier

What's Siliconized paper?

siliconized paper is like greaseproof paper but not as heavy

Any ideas as to where I can get some of this siliconized paper to try folding with?

My dad got me some from his place of work. It is used to protect resin-based decals that go on caravans. But I will check to see if there is any available to buy on the internet.

Hello, I'm new here. I just want to ask what is the best paper i can get in the US (Texas) to work on the origami Ancient Dragon by Kamiya Satoshi? I can also buy it online if affordable (1-5 dollar per sheet).
Thank You.
Please don't direct me to other forums, I have searched but people were in other places I cannot get to at this age.

I would say that you could try the model a few times using tracing paper, as suggested above. Once you are sure you can try with double tissue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpRz8NHaupc

OK thank you very much!

any decent art supply store is going to have a selection of hand made papers that will work and should be between 3 and 6 dollars a sheet depending on what you are looking at. Michael's, hobby lobby, etc. will have a terrible selection but usually have some.

All hand made papers will need to be sized with methylcellulose (MC) to prepare the paper. Look for it in the framing section or glues. Apply liberally, let dry, apply again, ... the paper needs to be thin, crisp, and able to hold a crease. No one complains when they go to the grocery store and buy raw chicken that it is not ready to eat when it gets home. Paper is the same way. Paper is a raw ingredient. It is up to the artists to prepare it appropriately. I buy and use a fair bit of Origamido, which a lot of people think is pretty good stuff for folding the ancient dragon. I MC two sheets together or it will not work at all for me, but to each their own.

Just a tip. you may be a hugely experienced folder and ready to fold a display quality ancient dragon so take this with a grain of salt.

The AD can be folded with all types of paper (wrapping paper, tissue paper, craft paper, etc.) so if you have tried it and succeeded with the cheap stuff you are all set. if you have failed with the cheap stuff you will fail with the expensive paper too. Expensive paper is not a panacea and will not cover up for a lack of practice. There are also a lot of really nice dragons with freely available diagrams that can be obtained legally on the internet. Kade Chan's fiery dragon comes to mind. No need to rush to the ancient dragon if you are not ready.